Logic 1 – Here's What I Think…

So I decided to document my issues with respect to service reliability of my cable TV providers. I emailed the owner/manager and then hand delivered a hard copy to her office. Within one hour of my dropping off the hard copy, I received an email from her. I’ve decided to post my letter to Logic One Ltd. and their response. Here you go:

MY LETTER TO LOGIC ONE LTD.

Dear Mrs. Francis:

On Friday November 9 2012, I lost service at my residence. It resumed sometime on Monday November 12. I reported the loss of service via telephone on the evening of the 9^th to a Customer Service agent named Trudy-Ann. I felt as if I was a bother to Trudy-Ann. She sighed at my questions and was unable to give a clear answer as to what was happening in the area. She suggested that it was perhaps due to a power cut. I spoke with Mrs.Levy on Saturday the 10^th. Mrs. Levy was extremely polite and apologetic. To this day I am still not clear what caused the loss of service. I was told that the lines were cut. Then I got a voice mail on my mobile phone confirming this. Then I was told by Mrs. Levy that Hurricane Sandy damaged the fibre optic cables.

On Saturday November 17 2012 I once again lost service at my residence at about 1:00pm. I reported the incident by telephone immediately to Mrs. Levy. She suggested that it was perhaps due to a power cut on the line. She promised to call me back at 3:00pm that afternoon to confirm if service had been restored. I did not get this call. Today is Monday November 19 and I still have no cable TV. I spoke with a Customer Service agent, Zoe, who acknowledged that a team was just sent to the area. This is disturbing to me: 48 hours after loss of service, a technical team is just being dispatched.

Please advise/confirm the following:

1. My bill for November will not include the days that I was unable to enjoy the service that I pay for: this stands at 5 days as at time of writing.

2. What is the procedure for reporting emergencies outside of regular working hours? I am not always able to get the mailbox having dialed the Logic One number.

3. How do I know for sure that my complaint has been noted outside of regular office hours?

4. What is Logic 1’s agreement with its customers in terms of response time and resolution time when complaints are lodged?

5. What was the real reason for loss of service Nov 9-12 and for Nov 17 until now?

I await your feedback.

Regards,

Kelly McIntosh

LOGIC ONE’S RESPONSE

Afternoon Ms. McIntosh,
Let me first apologise for the numerous interruptions in service due to damage sustained to our external plant as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Although the damage was not devastating, down trees caused breaks and stress fractures to our wires some of which were easily repairable whilst others were not.

As it relates to Nov 9-12th, we assumed it was a power outage after we discovered there was not power at our device, only to discover that our main wires ( both fiber and coax) had been cut, this took us the better part of all day of the 12th to locate and repair the damage. The Nov. 17th complaint was due to someone cutting trees and chopping our main wire again and repairs were once again effected on the 19th. Mrs Levy advised me that a call was placed to you last night, at which time you confirmed service had been restored.

Emergency calls are received by our in house voice-mail. Once a complaint is made in the week it will be addressed the following day and a call must be returned to the subscriber acknowledging complaint. On the weekends, the voicemail is checked remotely and calls returned to subscribers to either try and assist or if it is an area problem a team will be dispatched; however it is very important that you leave you name address and phone number in order for us to contact you, as this is normally omitted.

Complaints are normally repaired within 3-5 days depending on the nature of the complaint and subscribers availability.

Based on the number of days lost in October and now November we have decided to waive November fees, based on the fact you already paid for October and $2 towards November, this would easier than to re-calculating.

Whilst preparing my response a copy of your email was hand delivered.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me or Mrs Levy.

Regards
Paula Francis
Manager

MY RESPONSE TO LOGIC ONE LTD.

Dear Mrs. Francis:

I appreciate your reply. Thanks for the explanations and the apology.

Re: your SLA of repairs to be effected within 3-5 days, I am humbly requesting that you revisit the lower limit and challenge your operation to respond within at least 36 hours. Track it too, and use this metric to challenge your team to be the very best providers to your Customer base.

Best regards,

Kelly McIntosh

I may just have used up all my sulking points for 2012 today…I may even have a jump-start on 2013. Here’s the thing: I work hard. I consider myself to be a good mother. I give of myself to these two endeavors. When I’m at home my wants are simple: electricity, water, Internet and cable TV. What? Am I crazy? Aren’t these “amenities” a given? After all, it is the year 2012…

The main road near my house

Hurricane Sandy passed through about 3 weeks ago and we were left without electricity for 8 nights. This in and of itself was uncomfortable enough, but it was the lack of responsiveness and dearth of credible information from the Jamaica Public Service Co. (JPS) that really, really got my goat. So I went to battle. I called them…every day…multiple times per day. I stalked their Twitter feed and their Face book page, making myself known at every opportunity. I wrote to the press. I wrote to one well known reporter. I bitched using every medium I knew. Service was restored on night 9, and on day 11, the Daily Gleaner published my submission on this issue to them. I heard from the CEO and now I am on a first name basis with my Parish manager and I have a direct line to her should I have any issues in the future. I am tired.

Then 2 weeks after the passage of Sandy, our water in storage got dangerously low. So I put on my boxing gloves again, but this time the opponent was the National Water Commission (NWC). I was already on a first name basis with the gentleman who trucks water in my area in times of shortage. And I already had the mobile number for the Operations manager who is responsible for service delivery in my area. When your water supply depends on your being on a first name basis with “Ruddy”, you know you’re in trouble! After hounding them for 2 days straight, we got our tanks filled from a truck and pumping from the NWC source resumed the day after. I am tired.

I live 15 minutes from the outskirts of what we call the corporate area. It’s blissfully cool, green and very quiet. I enjoy decompressing on my veranda.

My Veranda

But there are moments when I feel as if I really live behind God’s back. We are definitely NOT a priority when it comes to utility companies. At least it feels that way. We’ve been living here for 12 years and it feels increasingly difficult to survive here. The (public) road leading down to my house is like a river bed. The feeder that provides electricity to this area is totally unreliable and at the first smell of rain, the first roll of thunder, the first flash of lightening, there goes the electricity. So we decided a few years ago to make ourselves independent of JPS. Over the years, we have increased our capacity, and I have to admit, that our response this time around post storm was decidedly better than in previous years. We were able to keep the ‘fridge running and we could iron and read and watch local TV. But because we are still not where we plan to be, we still had to rationalize our use of power during the period we were without service from JPS and so comfort levels were not at all optimized. As for water, we have capacity to store 1650 gal of water, but this is depleted after 2 weeks with no re-supply.

Me in front of the water tank: Water is Life!

Post Sandy, it took two weeks for the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) to resume garbage collection. Garbage receptacles from the bottom of the hill all the way up were overflowing. I simply waited and hoped for the garbage truck to come. I didn’t have the energy to do battle with that lot.

That’s to give you some context. Let me continue my rant now.

Then last week Friday evening, cable TV suddenly went. Service was restored Monday evening. I called. I called again. And still I called. A whole weekend with only TVJ as entertainment comes as close as I can imagine to what hell must be like. It is the lack of responsiveness and clear, credible info in the absence of product/service that really ticks me off! I was told that the storm damaged their lines. I was told that vandals had cut their lines. Still don’t know what the real story is. I am tired.

Then this Thursday night, we lost Internet service. And land-line service. We reported it to Lime. They could not proffer a reason but diligently recorded the complaint. And while watching news last night, my initial fears were confirmed: vandals had yet again stolen $5M worth of Lime cables from the area. They aim to replace said cables and restore service by the end of next week. This has happened twice in the past to the best of my knowledge, and the last time it happened, service was restored after 6 long weeks… and this only after I pressed a colleague of mine who had a direct line to the then president of C&W (now Lime) to intervene on my behalf. I am tired.

And now today, Saturday… I came home at 1pm after spending the morning at the Learning Center at my church helping out. I collapsed into my bed and started watching re-runs of the Voice when the screen went blank. Nothing. Cable service once again interrupted. It is now almost 9:30pm on Saturday night and I am forced to watch TVJ. Hell all over again. I was able to report the issue to the cable company before they closed for the weekend. Big deal. Dunno if their cables have been stolen too. Dunno when I’ll be able to watch some good TV again. I am tired.

H says that the country is in decline…that what we are experiencing are the results of a society falling apart. I can’t disagree with him. Main thoroughfares have simply broken away: Mt. Ogle in Stony Hill, Dunrobin near Red Hills Road, Junction en route to St. Mary, Cassava Piece off Mannings Hill Road…a clear sign of neglect and decay.

Bloomberg News says that Jamaica is perched on the edge of defaulting on our debt. The few dollars that I have managed to save and invest in government paper are once again at risk. The portfolio took a hit in the JDX scheme implemented a few years aback where we were asked to accept lower interest rates. “Jamaica has been the poster boy for imminent default for years now, but they don’t default,” Segura said in a phone interview. “The country has a weak ability to pay but strong willingness to pay.” So how do I preserve the little that I have accumulated? Equities? Real estate? FX? I am tired. There are those who have worked hard, educated themselves and fine themselves under-employed or un-employed. I’m not going to go into the crime situation, the young and old begging at stop-lights, the steady decline of civility in terms of how we deal with each other in terms of tone and deed. I am tired.

Now I have to strategise if I am to continue to live up here: increase the capacity of the solar set-up, add at least another 1000 gal to the water in storage, investigate options for wireless Internet (and this is not as simple as it sounds as right now I can’t pick up Lime cellular signal at home) and just decide to read more and build a library of DVDs in lieu of watching cable TV. I am tired.

Perhaps when the weariness overtakes me I should simply transport myself in my mind to those perfect times when I am sitting on Negril’s white sand looking at the perfect sunset, perfect cocktail in hand. Perhaps I should focus on the fact that my family is intact and in good health. Perhaps I should focus on the fantastic Sunday dinners that we still have, and the love and laughter and music and banter that we still share.

Paradise?